Antoine Walker had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists as
the Boston Celtics forced 32 turnovers and snapped a five-game
losing streak with a 96-86 victory over the Denver Nuggets, who
suffered their sixth straight loss to open the season.

Travis Knight added 17 points and six rebounds for the Celtics,
who won at home for the first time since defeating the Chicago
Bulls on opening night. Ron Mercer also chipped in with 16
points and six boards.

Tony Battie scored the game's first six points and finished with
14 to lead the Nuggets, who have opened the season 0-6 for the
fourth time in franchise history and the second time in three
years. Eric Washington added 13 points off the bench and Dean
Garrett had 13 rebounds.

"We had to win this one the old-fashioned way -- we had to work
for it," said Boston coach Rick Pitino. "I'm really proud of
our effort because it was an extraordinary night where shots
were not going down early. Our players stayed positive and came
back and won the game with great, great defense. We played as
hard as you could have."

Despite shooting only 37 percent (34-for-91) from the field,
Boston turned Denver's 32 turnovers into 31 points. Walker and
Bruce Bowen each had three of the Celtics' 16 steals. The
Celtics also were 24-of-27 from the free throw line, with Walker
making 10-of-11 shots.

"Our defense definitely helps our offense," said Mercer.
"Tonight we had two teams, offense and defense. They're (the
Nuggets) young like us and hungry like us. It's just who wants
it. Definitely, we need wins. It will take time for us to jell
but we're making progress and were making our free throws down
the stretch and playing defense."

Denver led the entire first half and most of the third quarter.
After Danny Fortson hit a layup with 3:19 remaining in the third
period, the Nuggets led, 66-59.

The Celtics turned the game around by going on a 22-6 run,
beginning with a three-pointer by Knight and capped by Mercer's
jumper with 8:37 remaining and giving Boston an 81-72 lead.
Walker had nine points during the spurt.

"The name of the game is to win. We didn't get it done
tonight," said Denver coach Bill Hanzlik. "There were some good
performances tonight but we're not putting together a full game.
We've just got to keep working at it and look for guys to step
up."

Denver stayed closed and pulled within one twice, at 83-82 with
4:32 left following two free throws by Garrett, and at 85-84
with 2:30 remaining after two free throws by Stith.

But the Celtics closed the game on an 11-2 run, with Chauncey
Billups scoring six points.

"I think we're getting better and we're not. We just have to
keep playing," Fortson said. "I don't like to lose. They
pressed us the whole game, we didn't press them back. We were
getting beat the whole game (by the press). We lost focus on
what we were doing."